Sound recording machine



' g H. P. CLAUSEN 2,354,739

'- SOUND RECORDING MACHINE 1 Filed April l6, 1943 IN V EN TOR. Henry Rclause Patented Aug. 1, 1944 um'rao STATES PATENT orr cs scum) RECORDINGmom Henry F. Ciausen, White Plains, N. Y., assig'nor v to The GrayManufacturing- Company, Hartford, Coma, a. corporation of ConnecticutApplication April 16. 1943, Serial No. 483,571 8 Claims. on. lie-100.41

This invention relates to improvements in the sound recording art inrelation to the conjoint action of, several machinescapable of recordingsound upon a permanent record tablet or its equivalent.

The main objects of this invention are to provide two or more timerecording machines, circuits therefor, and control devices in circuitswhereby near the completion of the recording of sound on one machineanother machine ofthe group is automatically set in operation; wherebytwo or more machines may be simultaneously operated to record the samesounds upon the corresponding number of records; or whereby soundrecorded on one machine maybe recorded therefrom on one or more othermachines.

A further object is to provide in such a system sound reproducingmechanism whereby at the completion of the reproduction of sound fromthe record of one machine another machine is automatically set inoperation to continue the reproduction therefrom.

Other and more detailed objects of this invention will be apparent fromthe following detailed description 01' an embodiment thereof.

This invention resides substantially in the combination, construction,arrangement and relative location of parts all as will be described indetail below. v

In the accompanying drawing, the single figure is a schematic anddiagrammatic illustration of an embodiment of the subject mattercomprising the invention disclosed herein.

The subject matter of this invention may be used with sound-recordingmachines of various kinds. but the embodiment herein disclosed will bedescribed in connection with a type of machine which employs a thinflexible disc of some suitable material such as cellulose acetate uponwhich the record is recorded and from which it may be reproduced. Aspecific disclosure of a machine of this type will be found in UnitedStates Patent No. 2,296,870, issued September 29, 1942, to Proctor andThiede.

.The subject matter of this invention is very iii) with the machines andthe operations incident to their use.

In accordance with the invention at each dictators station is arelatively simple control unit including a combined microphone-loudspeaker, a signal lamp and a single switch for starting and stopping themachine ,assigned to the dic-j; tator in the usual manner.

The system. herein disclosed may be used: either as a direct or remotecontrol system for controlling the operation of two or more machines sothat recording on one machine is transferred to the next in the seriesnear the end of the record of the former machine, and for a short periodof time the same subject matter is recorded on both records so thatthere is what may be termed overlapping recording during this period.Likewise, with such an arrangement reproduction may be efiectedsuccessively and automatically from machine to machine, but in the caseof reproduction each machine as it initiates reproduction in the nextmachine immediately interrupts reproduction from itself so that there isno overlapping period during reproduction.

The system is further designed so that the same sounds maybe recordedsimultaneously on the two or more machines or the record on one machinemay be transferred and recorded on two or more other machines. 9

The sound recording reproducing machine diagrammatically illustratedherein is preferably of the type disclosed in full detail in the abovementioned patent. It consists of a carriagel which is supported in anysuitableway for rectilinear motion in a radial direction with respect tothe sound record tablet 3 which is keyed to the rotatable spindle 2mounted on the carriage. The record tablet is caused to revolve byengaging a power driven friction wheel 4 from below which wheel in theuse of the machine is revolving continuously. Positioned above the wheelI is an idler pressure wheel 5 rotatably mounted on apivotally supportedarm 6 so that when the arm moves downwardly from the position shown inFigure 1, the record tablet 3 is gripped between the continuouslyrotating wheel 4 and the idler wheel 5 with the result that the record 3revolves, causing the spindle 2 to turn with it. Through suitableconnections, not shown, to the spindle 2, the carriage is caused to moveslowly in a radial direction from right to left since recording andreproduction begin from a point near the center of the recordand'proceed outwardly in a spiral path-of small pitch to the periphery.In actual use the axes of rotation of the wheels 4 and 5 This light ispreferably of the gas discharge type 25 is the operator.

will be on the plane of the paper, as-will be obvious to those skilledin the art. lever 6 is grounded as shown.

At 1 and 8 are respectively illustrated, in a diagrammatic way, thesound reproducing and sound recording heads which may beof any wellknown types such as the electromagnetic or the piezo electric crystaltypes. One terminal of each is grounded and the other terminals arerespectively connected to the fixed contact fingers forming part of aswitch having the movable support Q. Mounted on this support are thecontact flngers i and II which are respectively connected to the outputandinput terminals of a suitable amplifier diagrammatically illustratedat l2. This amplifier is preferably of the vacuum tube type and isprovided with a signal light it energized thereby to give a visiblesignal to. the attendant that it is in good operatingcondition.

such as a neon lamp.

At this point it may be noted that the elements comprising machine No. 1are substantially the same as the elements comprising machine No. 2, andtherefore the corresponding parts of the latter have been given the samenumbers distinguished however by a prime exponent. A detaileddescription of machine No. 2 will therefore not be necessary.

A second pair of fixed contacts cooperate with the movable contacts inand II and are connected by a wire It to the working contact of a switchl5 forming part of a relay of which the magnet The other terminal ofswitch I5 is connected by a wire to one terminal 01 the combinationmicrophone-loud speaker IS, the other terminal of this unit is groundedby the wire I! and is also connected to theworking contact of switch 29.The other contact 01- this switch is'connected to one terminal of switch21 forming part of relay 25. A switch is is arranged to connect groundto one terminal of the magnet 25 and to wire l9, which wire extends tothe magnet 20. At this point it will be noted that various magnets havetheir other terminals connected to the positive side of acurrent source,not shown for the purpose of .simplifying the drawing. Magnet may becalled the startstop magnet. Magnet maybe called the latching magnet.These and similar discussions will aid in distinguishing one elementfrom the other in the following description.

The pivoted lever 6 controls a pair of contacts, one of which isconnected by wire 2| signaling lamp 22 at the dictators station, otherterminal of which is connected to wire Ht The other contact controlledby the lever B is connected by a wire to the fixed contact I and to thegrounded neon lamp 24 positioned at the machine. Switch l30 is of thetype which closes upon a very slight pressure and limited movement andis of the type now known as a microswitch. This switch is positioned tobe engaged by the carriage I when it moves to the left to a, point nearthe end of the recording space on the record tablet 3. The movablecontact oi this switch is connected by a wire to one terminal of theshifting magnet 30, which includes switches 28, 32, 39 and 40. Theworking contact of switch 28 is connected by wire 3| to the rest contactof switch 21 of the latching relay 25. The working contact of switch 32is grounded and the other contact is connected to a heating coil formingpart of the thermostatic switch 33 and to the contacts of switches 35and 36 which are grounded, 76 for accomplishing 10 ll closes and switch25 tion to control 35 may be added to to a neon the 3 be done sincethere are many well, known ways to as shown and forming part of the timedelay relay 34. A- circuit for the winding of this relay is i completedby the thermostatic switch as shown. The working contact of switch II iscormected to 5 wire is, the'working contact or switch It is connected tothe working contact of the grounded start switch 22 and to one terminal01! the unlatching magnet 31 which operates the latch 2i sothat when thelatching relay is energized switch 21 shiits from its rest to itsworking contact where they are both held until the unlatching magnet 21is energised. Switch 3! has its working contact connected to the workingcontact of a third switch in the switch in- 15 cluding the movablesupport I. Switch 4. con- 26 called the tripping switches.

Between the pair of machines are provided a pair of key switches I3 and44. Each of these switches has three'positions, that'is a neutralposition as shown, a clockwise position to control the switches ll and48 and a counter-clockwise. posithe switches, and It These switches are,connectedas shown. Switch 48 normally short circuits a resistance pad 41in the lead to the microphone-loud speaker it. At the right it will beseen that a riumber of the circuit wires terminate in arrow headsindieating that by connecting these wires to the next machine in themanner in which machine No. i

is connected to machine No. 2, a. third machine the series and so on toinclude as many machines as desired.]"1he'- only other change noted inadding a third machine would be to shift the'wires A from No; 2 machinetoNo. 3

machine.

A description of the. various ways in which this circuit may be operatedwill'now be set forth in detail. It will be assumed that-these machinesare at a central station and that one or more dictators stationsaresituated remotely with respect 46 thereto but connected to the control"circu ts as 50 chine, as will be explained. It a person'at a dictatorsstation wishes to record on machine No. 1. ior example, he will signalthe central station in any suitable manneralthough there is nothingshown in the drawing to indicate how this would efl'ect such a signal.Assumingth'at the operator has placed a. fresh record disc 3 on themachine I, has moved the carriage l to the extreme right and engaged therecording head. with the rec-' go -ord tablet near its center, hemomentarily closes the start switch I8. It isnrst to be noted. however,that the power driven'wheel 4 will be in operation. The closing oiswitch ll completes .a circuit for the latching magnt 2! in an obviousman- .ssnor to close switch II and to shift switch 21 to its workingcontact. The closing of switch II also completes a circuit from groundthrough wire it to the start-stop magnet '20. The momentary energizationthereof will pull the lever". down.

causing the idler wheel lto' grip the top of the record 3. The lever 0will stay down in this po- I sition until the next operation of thestart-stop magnet 20. 'Ihereare a numberot'well known .i'orms ofelectro-magnetically operated devices this action,.and it is believedtherefore that the diagrammatic illustration is sufllcient. Theattendant at the time of placing the recording-head 8 on the recordtablet 3 will throw the support 9 downwardly into recording position sothat contact l engages the lower adjacent fixed contact, therebyconnecting the recording head with the output of the amplifier i2 andcontact It will move into engagement with the adjacent fixed contact toconnect the iriput of the amplifier l2 to wire I and through switch i5tothe unground terminal of the microphone-loud speaker I6; The amplifier,l2 being in operation the neon light l3 will be visibly energized toadvise the attendant that it is in operating condition.

Returning to the energizationof the latching relay 25, it will be seenthat switch 21 connects start-stop switch 29 through switch 28 to wirel9, thus placing the start-stop magnet 20 under the control of switch29. Ground willbe connected through lever B and wire 2i to one side ofthe neon light 22, the other side of which is connested t0 the powersource through the start-stop magnet 20. Thus the neon light 22 wll beenerglzed to indicate to the dictator that the machine is in operationand ready. for his use. The amount of current flowing through the highremachines normally. The closing of the other part of switch 40 placesground on wire ll 'and by it through wire l9 to the start-stop magnet 20so that the lever 6' moves downwardly to start machine No. 2. Thus thedictated matter will at this .period be simultaneously recorded on therecord tablets of machine No. 1 and No. 2.

- The closing of switch 39 on its working contact partially completes acircuit from switch 39 and unlatching relay 31 to the lowermost switchofthe support 9, but nothing "happens since this switch is open. Theclosing of switch 32 places ground on the heating coil of thethermostatic switch 33 which at the end of a predetermined fall back onits resting contact. The time period sistance neon lamp 22 will not besufiicie'nt to operate the magnet 2d. The other contact controlled bylever 6 will place ground on neon lamp 24 which will beextinguisheduntil the proper time for its operation. The dictator if heis ready may then begin to dictate, but if he is not ready hemomentarily closes switch 29 to stop rotation of the record 3. This isaccomplished by establishing a circuit from ground to wire I! throughswitch 29, through the working contact of switch 21, through the restcontact of switch '28, through wire l9 and the start-stop magnet 26. Theenergization of this magnet, lever S being down, will cause it to moveupwardly relieving the pressure of the idler wheel 5 on the record disc3 so that this recording machine will stop.

'When the dictator is ready to start the machine he again momentarilycloses switch 21 completing 'a circuit'to the start-stop magnet 20 topull lever 5 down. He then speaks into the microphone which is groundedat one terminal so that the impressed currents will flow through closedswitch i5, wire it, switch ii, to the input of am plifier l2, and fromthe output by way of contact 80 to the wire connected to the'recordinghead 8.

of the thermostatic switch is. adjusted so that the desired amount ofoverlapped recording will occur after which machine No. 1 stops. Withthe closing of switch I32, the signal light 24 is energized when arm 6rises and removes the short circuit apprising the attendant that machineNo. 1 has stopped and its record tablet is full. During the period ofoverlapped recording the start-stop function of switch 29 will beeffective only for machine No. 2. This results from the fact that whenthe shifting magnet is energized, switch 28 sets up a circuit fromthevswitch 29 through the working contact of switch 21, through theworking contact of switch 28, through wire 3!, through the workingcontact of switch 21', through the rest contact of switch 28' to wirel9. Thus during the short period of overlapped recording the closing ofswitch 29 will stop machine No. 2 and upon the next closing start Thusthe matter to be recorded is impressed upon the record. The dictator maystop whenever he desires by again momentarily closing switch 29. If hecontinues to dictate until record tablet 3 is substantially full,carriage i will by that time have moved to the point where switch I30 ismomentarily closed. This energizes the shifting magnet 3d so that all ofthe switches controlled thereby are closed. The closing of the righthand part of switch 5% will put ground on wire 62 energizing thelatching relay 25, causing switch it' to close and switch 27' to shiftto its working contact. The closing of switch it puts the microphone onthe input of the amplifier I! through wire it and contact ii, themovable support 9' being in recording position. The output of theamplifier is connected through contact it to the recording head 8'.Signal lamp is is energized apprising the attendant that machine No. 2is now in use, and therefore indicating to the attendant that machineNo. 1 has about used up its record. Of course, the drive wheel 5% is inoperation as are the drive wheels of all the it again so that the remotedictator has the necessary and full control at all times.

As a result of the above operations machine No. 2 is now recording andmachine No. 1 has come to a rest. The attendant may therefore remove thefull record disc 3 and replace it by a fresh record, shift the carriageI back to the extreme right, and replace the recording head on support 9in recording position so that the machine is all ready to pick up therecording at the end of the recording on record tablet 3. Near the endof the recording on tablet 3', microswitch l33' will be closed to startthe next machine in the series with a similar set of operations asdescribed in the transfer from machine No.1 to machine No. 2. Asillustrated machine No.2 is interconnected with lmachine No. 1 so thatthe recording will be transferred back from machine No. 2 to machineNo. 1. However, any desired number of additional machines can beincluded in the series with a connection between the last and the'firstlike that illustrated in the drawing to close, so to speak, the cycle ofoperations. As illustrated when micro-switch l30' closes the shiftingmagnet 33' is operated to close, among duplicate recordings.

It is, of course, .assumed conditions require 4! and I. The key is leftin this position to maintain these switches'closed. The closing ofswitch I! places the start-stop switch 29 at the dictators station incontrol of both start-stop magnets'lil and so that the dictator maysimultaneously start and stop both machines in accordance with therequirements of his dictation. As before,

i when the micro-switch I30 of machine No. 1 closes, the shifting relay'30 will operate. At the same time current is supplied through switch 48to the unlatchlng magnet 31 and through switch 4| and wire 4| to 20'sothat machine No. 2 stops immediately while machine No. 1 does not stopuntil the thermostatic switch 33 closes. Thus machine No. 1 will remainin operation for a very short period of time after machine No. 2 comesto a stop. However, since the record lines on a machine of this typeare-so fine as to require about 225 per radial inch, it is apparent thatthe amount 'of recording on the two records does not differ very much.

The system may also be used for re-recordin which is to say forrecording the data on one record onto another record. For example, afull record may be placed in the machine No. 1 and the matter recorded.the'reon may be impressed upon an empty record mounted in machine No. 2.As before, the machine carriages will be properly set with the properrecords on them, but in the case of machine No. l the reproducing head Iwill engage the record tablet while the recording head 8 of machine No.2 will record its record tablet. Whereas the support 9' will be in thedownward position for recording the support 9 will be in the upperposition for reproduction, in which case contact II will engage thecontact connected to the reproducing head I, thus connecting thereproducing head to the input of the amplifier l2; Contact l0, connectedto the output of the amplifier, will engage the contact above it toconnect the output by wire l4 to switch I5 after preliminary preparationof the machines by the attendant. The attendant .operates the key 44 tothe right to energize both latching relays 25 and 25' through the switch48 as previously explained. He thenmoves the key to the left to closeswitches 49 and 50 as previously explained; Key No. 43 is thenmanipulated to the left where it is held in locked position-to openswitch 48 and remove the short circuit from the resistance pad 41. Theresistance 41 is connected in circuit with switch ii to cut the volumeof reproduction from the reproducing head I in order that the recordinghead 8' will not be overloaded. In view of the prior description it isbelieved that it will not be necessary to detail again the operation ofthe circuitsfor re-recording other than that just given.

Key 43 is provided solely for the attendant who when he throws it to theleft to place ground on the contacts 45 will operate all the unlatchingrelays so as to place the machines in their normal inoperative positionso that they cannot be used while he is absent. In other words, thiscontrol is provided to easily place the machines in normal inoperativeposition whenever this condition is desired.

Except in connection with re-recording no mention has beenmade ofreproduction. The opera tion of the machine for reproduction can readilybe seen from the descriptions that have preceded' but a little furtherreference to reproduction may be helpful in fully explaining the system.For example to reproduce from machine No. 1 the attendant will place afull record on the carriage l, moving the carriage to the right,initiate the operation of the drive wheel 4, shift the support 9upwardly toconnect the recording head to the input of the amplifier andthe output of the amplifier to wire 14 and switch l5. He

'then starts the machine by closing start switch l8 as before, so thatthe dictator may now hear the recorded matter at the microphone-loud.

. switches including switch 39 which it will'be seen is connected to thelowermost switch on the support 9 which during reproduction is closed.Thus ground is immediately put upon the unlatching relay 31 so thatduring reproduction machine No.

1 stops instantly upon the closing of micro-switch I30 rather thanhaving a delayed stopthrough the action of the thermostatic switch 33.At the same time through switch 4!! machine No. 2 is started up so thatthe reproduction continues from this machine with no overlap ofreproduction because of the fact that if overlapping occurred the re-,.

suit to the ear would be inarticulate. Thus, reproduction is quitesimilar to recording except that there is no overlapped operation duringreproduction.

An interesting feature of this invention is that a combination of twomachines, as illustrated in the single figure, represents what maybetermed a unit machine in which the machines may be used singly or incombination for recording and reproduction, all as previously explainediii detail. When required, this unit machine may be expanded by theaddition of one or more machines by connection'to the circuit wiresterminating in arrowheads as previously explained. However, the keyswitches 43 and 44 would not normally be included between eachsucceeding pair of machines because the unit machine which includes theswitches, as illustrated, is capable of handling the additionalfunctions of duplicate recording and re-recording.' However, the featureof continuous recording with travel from one machine to the next can becontinued on as many machines as a particular situation would require.

From the above detailed description of the operation of the systemherein disclosed, it will be apparent that by means of a fewmanipulations the mechanism may be adapted for continuous recording,continuous reproduction, simultaneous recording on two or more tablets,and re-recording from one to other tablets for duplication purposes.Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate from the abovedescription that many variations may be introduced without departingfrom the true novel scope of the invention. I do not, therefore, desireto be strictly limited to the disclosure,

but rather by the scope of the claims granted me.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sound recording system the combination comprising at least tworecording machines for recording sounds on records, means controlled byeach machine for starting another machine when the record of the formeris substantially full, means controlled by each machine for stopping ita predetermined period of time after it has started another machine, adictators' control for starting and stopping an operating machine, andan attendants control for connecting the dictator's control to two ormore machines whereby duplicate records of the same dictation may bemade.

2. In the combination of claim 1, meansalso controlled by each machinefor transferring the dictator's control to each machine as it is startedby another.

3. In the combination of claim 1, an attendants control device forrendering all machines inoperative.

4. In the combination of claim 1, an attendants control device fordisabling the dictator's control of said machine.

5. In a system of the typedescribed, the combination comprising aplurality of sound recording and reproducing machines, each machineineluding a recording head and a reproducing head, means operated byeach machine during recording for starting another machine when therecord of the former is substantially full, a dictator's control forstarting and stopping the operating machine, an attendants control forcausing simultaneous operation of two or more machines whereby therecording head of one machine may be fed by the reproducing head ofanother to effect re-recording, and means for reducing the currentoutput of the reproducing head during recording to prevent overloadingof the recording head.

6. In the combination of claim 5, an attendants control device forsimultaneously rendering all of said machines inoperative.

'7. In the combination of claim 5, an attendant's control for renderingtwo or more machines simultaneously operative whereby duplicaterecordinss may be efiected.

8. In the combination of claim 5, an attendant's control for renderingtwo or more machines simultaneously operative whereby duplicaterecordings may be efiected, and for placing the dictator's control incontrol oi the conJointly operating machines.

HENRY P. CLAUSEN.

